The Story of Captain Alice
by Goldsaddletank
Summary: Snuffy's away on a trip, and Jay Jay misses him. Herky tells him a tale to remind him that some people can never see their friends again. (Request for tate310)
1. The Sad Story of Captain Alice

It was a nice day at Tarrytown Airport. The skies were blue, clouds limited to white patches across them and birds sang as the sun warmed all with the powerful rays necessary for beings to survive.

Only Jay Jay didn't feel much like flying and being happy.

Snuffy, a very close friend of Jay Jay's, was away on a very important business trip and wouldn't be back for a while.

He missed the shy green skywriter a lot, and wished he could come home soon and play games and fly by Lightning Bug Lake with Tracy and Herky. They were busy with deliveries last time he had checked, and he had no deliveries to do at the moment so he was mighty bored.

So he said, "Well I'll just check again to see if there are any deliveries I can do."

Suddenly his radio crackled into life.

"Jay Jay, I need you to take some new books to Miss Jones for the library. Can you do it?" Brenda Blue inquired.

"Yes I can!" Jay Jay replied, brightening up. Finally!

So he was loaded with the books and once given the all clear, he set off for the library.

The journey was plain sailing and once done, he was then sent to Farmer Ben's farm for eggs to take to the bakery.

"Thank you Jay Jay." Smiled the baker, William Heats. I don't know how Tarrytown will cope without you."

"You're welcome." replied Jay Jay, though the praise made him feel a little sad. He thought of Snuffy again.

"Well I best head back to work…and I suppose you'll be busy too." Mr Heats added.

"Yes sir." he managed, before flying away, thinking of Snuffy.

Well that hadn't worked.

…

That afternoon, Big Jake told Jay Jay that the other young jets were free, so he, along with Tracy and Herky, headed up to Lightning Bug Lake to play Jet Frog.

They did have fun, until their minds were on one thing;

Snuffy.

That put a dampener on their afternoon.

…

"I miss Snuffy." Sighed Jay Jay.

"I miss him too." Said Tracy.

The three looked at Snuffy's hanger. It was empty.

"He's one of my best friends," said Jay Jay despondently, "to say I miss him is an understatement."

"Here, therrre's something I want to tell you guys. I know how it feels to miss someone a lot." Herky piped up. "I had an old friend that I cared about but don't see her anymore.

"Who?" Asked Jay Jay and Tracy simultaneously, unable to prevent their curiosity.

"Captain Alice."

"I was in my really young days at Tarrytown." Began Herky. "I didn't know anyone, and I was bored and sometimes a little scared. But a young woman met me, and we just said hello. She said her name was Captain Alice. She was working at Sandy's Landing as the ship's captain. She was really kind and funny and knew a load of great stories of all the places she'd been to see. She saw jungles and rivers and mountains and all sorts of animals that one can't imagine." He smiled. "She would tell me tales of adventure and excitement, and in turn I told her what it was like to fly."

"What did she look like?" interrupted Tracy, "You never told us!"

"Oh sorrrry." He started again. "Alice wore a grey uniform and braces, and also had long dark black hair that was past her shoulders. She was quite plain and had freckles as well. But she wasn't ugly- I could never think of her that way inside or out."

"What ship did she work on?" Asked Jay Jay.

"Do you remember the ship that Captain Wentworth works on- that big blue cargo ship?" He asked. "Captain Alice used to man it."

"Well what happened?" They asked, curious to hear of Alice's fate.

"One day," said Herky quietly. "She had a horrible accident at sea. There had been rumours that that the boat she was on was too dangerous to work on without maintenance. She thought that everything that had been checked properly, so she just signed the papers and got on with it. Little did she know that-" Herky stopped and took a deep breath.

"A crane hook plummeted on top of her." He said simply.

The others gasped.

"Oh no! Poor Captain Alice." Jay Jay whispered in shock.

"That's horrible." Breathed Tracy. "Did she recover?"

Herky replied. "No, she didn't. I'd rather not into detail how she died, but it was horrible. But what's even worse is that I can't see her again." He finished, miserably.

"Oh Herky I'm sorry." said Jay Jay sadly. "If only I knew…"

Deep down however, this new knowledge about his helicopter friend made him feel a little better about Snuffy being away. At least Snuffy will come back.

Suddenly the three jumped as they saw Big Jake standing by them.

"Big Jake! How long have you been there?" Asked Tracy in shock.

"Just got here." He shrugged. "Just wanted to let you kids know that Snuffy's finished business now so he's returning to Tarrytown tomorrow!"

"HOORAY!" The three cheered. This was great news. Definitely news to cheer them up after hearing about Captain Alice.

They all decided to get a good night's sleep so that they could welcome their friend back to Tarrytown the next day with all the cheeriness they could muster.


	2. Snuffy comes home at last

The jets woke up the next morning, feeling anticipation fuel their engines. Snuffy was coming home- today! They were all very excited about this. The sun was just rising over Tarrytown's tarred runways, warming up the place that the jets had called home for so long.

The home Snuffy was returning to.

He wouldn't be home until the afternoon. This gave the jets an advantage, as they wanted to surprise Snuffy with a welcome home that would mean a lot.

Only problem was, they didn't have a good idea.

"He likes sky writing," Offered Jay Jay "so maybe we could write out a welcome home in the sky."

Tracy Herky and Big Jake, who had agreed to help them with their plan, just stared at him incredulously. Then it dawned on Jay Jay.

"Oh yeah I forgot we can't skywrite." He said sheepishly. "Oops."

"Any other ideas?" asked Tracy.

"Well we could play Freeze Jet," Proposed Herky. "Snuffy loves that game."

"Maybe so but you kids could do that anytime." Big Jake pointed out. "I have an idea- how about we throw him a surprise party?"

The younger jets were excited.

"That's a great idea!" Exclaimed Jay Jay.

So it was agreed that a party would be thrown. Planning began well…

…

…but ended in disaster.

It started when Herky had come home after paying a visit to the town's party store. He got a supply of colourful bunting to string up in the hangers. Only, he laid it down a moment to help Brenda Blue find her missing toolbox. By the time it was found nearly an hour later, Herky couldn't remember where he put the bunting.

Big Jake was not happy about this at all and was just ready to collect some doughnuts from the town bakery when he saw Old Oscar sputtering away.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine!" Huffed Old Oscar. "Aren't you supposed to-?"

"Well, let me help you first." Persisted Big Jake.

He helped the elderly jet to see Brenda so that she could investigate the matter. Brenda was immediately thankful that Herky had helped her find her toolbox- otherwise Old Oscar might've been in worse condition. So work on him began right away.

In all the fuss and rush, Big Jake had forgotten to get the doughnuts. And by the time he finally remembered and set off to the bakery, the baker had closed up early, as his mother was in hospital and he had to visit her. Big Jake felt defeated at this point.

No bunting, no doughnuts. What else was there to forget?

"…party hats!" Tracy realised with horror. She had forgotten party hats! She had been sent on a delivery to deliver flowers to the florist. She had carried roses, sunflowers, lilies, camellias and hyacinths amongst many flowers on orders of Mr E.Z. It would have been easy to get party hats en route. But they had slipped her mind. And time had slipped through her jets.

Sadly, she made her way to meet the others. She just hoped that they had better luck than her.

…

Big Jake, Herky and Tracy were all now feeling quite guilty. None of them had remembered anything! Other things had come up and got in the way of their plans.

"Let's just hope that Jay Jay knows what to say." Big Jake murmured.

The other two agreed.

"He always does." said Tracy confidently.

But it was always minus one.

…

The four felt crushed. Not one thing had come out right, and this made them feel that there was no point in continuing.

"Should have just stuck to Freeze- Jet." Muttered Herky. "Now we don't have a good surprise for Snuffy."

"Guys look!"

Jay Jay saw a beautiful blue monarch butterfly approach him and his friends.

It landed on Jay Jay's left wing.

"Listen we kinda need help." Admitted Jay Jay to the butterfly. "Our friend Snuffy is coming home today very soon and we want to surprise him but we have nothing to surprise him with."

To everyone's surprise the butterfly began communicating with Jay Jay through his feet.

The blue jet frowned. "Are you sure that will work?"

The butterfly moved again.

"Well, if you're sure."

"What did he say?" Asked Herky.

Jay told them.

"What? But we don't have time!" Protested Tracy.

"Yes!" Agreed Herky. "It's one o' clock now! Snuffy will be home halfway through that!"

"Nonsense!" Scoffed Big Jake. "We can get it done in time. We just need a bit of teamwork, that's all."

"Yeah!" Jay Jay agreed. "We'll have this done in no time!"

The other two looked at one another and reluctantly agreed.

So a huddle was formed, and a plan was crafted….

…

Snuffy was tired. His business trip had gone very well, but he missed his friends and he missed Tarrytown.

So as soon as he saw Tarrytown in the distance he beamed. He was home!

Sighing happily, he landed on the runway and his jets were cooled. Mr E.Z O'Malley was waiting for them.

"Welcome back, Snuffy." He greeted warmly. "I presume your trip went well?"

"Yes sir thank you." Replied Snuffy. "I want to see my friends though. I missed them while I was away."

"Of course Snuffy. I'll leave you to it."

He left.

Snuffy began looking for the jets.

"Hello? Jay Jay? Tracy? Herky?"

Suddenly, he saw something move in the hangers. Curious, he went in.

Jay Jay, Herky, Big Jake and Tracy were all waiting for him at a large table.

On it was laden a feast fit for a king.

"Welcome home Snuffy!" They chorused.

"Is this….for _me_?" He asked, surprise etching itself in his quiet voice.

"Yes, of course!" Said Tracy. 

"Thank you -this was really thoughtful of you guys." The green skywriter said happily.

He looked at Jay Jay.

"I missed you Snuffy. The blue jet admitted.

"I missed you too, Jay Jay." Replied Snuffy.

The pair shared a hug, just glad that they were together again.

"I'm glad you're back Snuffy. Herky told him. "I told a story to Jay Jay and Tracy whilst you were away, and-"

"I say we should just let Snuffy relax and have some food first." Big Jake cut in.

With a little help from the butterfly and some imagination, Snuffy's welcome home was extra special.


End file.
